Randall Sunberg

Randall B. Sunberg

Partner
Baker & McKenzie LLP

Biography

Randall Sunberg is a partner in the Transactions Practice Group and the Life Sciences Industry Group. He serves as Chair of the North America Healthcare & Life Sciences Group. Randy structures and negotiates complex collaborations, mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, joint ventures, and corporate partnering and licensing transactions, as well as equity investments and royalty monetization transactions for clients ranging from biotech startups to multinational pharmaceutical companies.

Practice Focus

In addition to pharma, biotech, medical device, diagnostics, and technology companies, Randy advises private equity, venture capital, and investment banking firms. Randy counsels on alternative financing arrangements such as royalty monetizations. He also handles technical contractual arrangements for drug discovery, development, manufacturing and supply, marketing and co-promotion, and outsourcing in the life sciences industry.

Additionally, he advises boards of directors and significant shareholders on disclosure issues, corporate communications policies, and fiduciary duty matters. He serves clients throughout Europe and Asia, and across the United States.

Randy's wealth of global life sciences experience draws many invitations to speak at industry events worldwide. He has spoken on such topics as mergers and acquisitions, strategic alliances, and licensing and collaboration transactions in the United States at Allicense, BIO and LES annual meetings; in Canada at BIOMedex; and in China at BIO Forum; as well as at other life sciences–related conferences. He has also been a guest lecturer at the Rutgers Business School MBA Biotechnology Commercialization Concentration.

Representative Legal Matters

  • Takeda in its co-development and co-commercialization license and collaboration with Protagonist for rusfertide, an injectable hepcidin mimetic peptide in late-stage development for polycythemia vera.

  • Incyte in its strategic collaboration with AbCellera to discover and develop therapeutic antibodies in oncology.

  • Astellas in its research collaboration and license agreement with PeptiDream to discover novel protein degraders for two targets selected by Astellas, with the option to select up to three additional targets.

  • Pheon Therapeutics in its exclusive license agreement with Biocytogen Pharmaceuticals for the development and commercialization of antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) developed using Biocytogen's proprietary RenMice™ platforms.

  • Acorda Therapeutics in its distribution and supply agreements with Hangzhou Chance Pharmaceuticals Co. Ltd. to provide INBRIJA® in China.

  • Incyte in its collaboration with Biotheryx to discover and develop targeted protein degraders for novel oncology targets.

  • GSK in its license agreement with WuXi Biologics for multiple novel bi- and multi-specific T cell engagers.

  • Minoryx Therapeutics in its licensing transaction with Neuraxpharm for European rights to its PPAR gamma agonist lead candidate leriglitazone.

  • CSL Seqirus in its collaboration and license agreement with Arcturus Therapeutics to access its late stage self-amplifying mRNA vaccine platform technology, including for COVID-19, influenza, and multi-pathogen pandemic preparedness.

  • Sanifit Therapeutics in its acquisition by Vifor Pharma, including the continued development and commercialization of Sanifit's novel, first-in-class inhibitor of vascular calcification for the treatment of CUA and PAD in patients with end-stage kidney disease.

  • Takeda in its collaboration and license agreement with Poseida Therapeutics to utilize Poseida's piggyBac, Cas-CLOVER, biodegradable DNA and RNA nanoparticle delivery technology and genetic engineering platforms for up to eight gene therapy programs, including Hemophilia A. 

  • H. Lundbeck A/S in its collaboration with Rgenta Therapeutics to discover small molecules targeting RNA regulation and splicing of disease-causing genes.

Professional Honors

  • Selected for inclusion in The Legal 500’s M&A Powerlist - USA Region, 2023-2024
  • Band 2, Life Sciences: Corporate/Commercial - USA, Chambers Global, 2020-2023
  • Band 1, Corporate/M&A, New Jersey, Chambers USA, 2020-2023
  • Life Sciences: Corporate/Commercial, Nationwide, Chambers USA, Band 2 - 2019-2022; Band 3 - 2023
  • Life Sciences Star, Financial and Corporate, LMG Life Sciences, 2012-2022
  • Dealmakers Award to Baker McKenzie Life Sciences Group, NJLJ Professional Excellence 2020
  • Band 4, Corporate M&A (International & Cross-Border) - USA, Chambers Global, 2020
  • Band 4, Corporate/M&A, New York, Chambers USA, 2019
  • Ranked, Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business, 2006, 2008-2017
  • Recommended, Industry focus: Healthcare: life sciences; Recommended, Intellectual property: Patents: licensing, The Legal 500 US, 2018
  • Recommended, Healthcare: Life Sciences, The Legal 500 US, 2013-2017
  • Listed, Law360 Life Sciences MVP, 2014
  • Listed, Law360 Healthcare MVP, 2012
  • Recognized, Life Sciences, Who’s Who Legal, 2016, 2018
  • Recommended in Life Sciences Commercial and Partnering, PLC Which Lawyer? Yearbook, 2008
  • Recommended in Life Sciences Commercial and Partnering by PLC Cross-border Life Sciences Handbook, 2007/2008
  • Listed, New Jersey Super Lawyers, 2005-2007, 2018-2019
  • Recipient, Philadelphia Business Journal Inaugural Life Sciences Award for Best Consultant (Later Stage), 2010

Professional Associations and Memberships

  • American Bar Association - Member, Business Law Section

Admissions

  • New Jersey~United States
  • Missouri~United States
  • New York~United States
  • Pennsylvania~United States

Education

  • New York University School of Law (JD) (1982)
  • Yale University (BA) (1977)

Languages

  • English

Recent events

Executive Council & the New York Venture Capital Association Health & Technology Summit 2018

JPMorgan’s 34th Annual Healthcare Conference in San Francisco

Allicense 2010: Redefining the Threshold of Innovation Conference